CLEVELAND, Ohio - You can legally smoke marijuana in Ohio, but it’s still illegal federally. Why?
We’re talking about the disconnect on weed and what Congress can do about it on Today in Ohio.
Editor Chris Quinn hosts our daily half-hour news podcast, with editorial board member Lisa Garvin, impact editor Leila Atassi and content director Laura Johnston.
You’ve been sending Chris lots of thoughts and suggestions on our from-the-newsroom text account, in which he shares what we’re thinking about at cleveland.com. You can sign up here: https://joinsubtext.com/chrisquinn.
Here’s what we’re asking about today:
STRS: Ohio’s State Teachers Retirement System could be in for a shakeup. How come?
Let’s talk about marijuana. Ohio Congressman Dave Joyce wants to finally end to confusion between state laws and federal laws on this increasingly popular product. What’s his proposal?
Heading in the opposite direction, Ohio lawmakers are working to rein in unregulated products that contain ingredients found in marijuana. It’s been a topic of conversation for a while. Is a resolution coming?
We mentioned yesterday that the Cuyahoga County executive sent a letter to the state legislature asking for $350 million to renovate Browns Stadium. But the county doesn’t own that stadium. Cleveland does. But the mayor’s name was not on the letter. What’s going on?
One of the ways Dee and Jimmy Haslam propose to pay back local loans for the Brook Park stadium is an increase in hotel taxes. We saw some opposition to that arise Wednesday. Who from?
Remember that sleazy dope who sold defective body armor to police all over Ohio and elsewhere? He’ll be sentenced soon for his crimes, but now he has another ramification for his crime. What is it?
A problem that arises elsewhere in Ohio but hardly ever in Northeast Ohio is school crowding. The Northeast Ohio population is waning, after all. But we do have a Northeast Ohio high school that is bursting at the seams. Which one, and how are they coping?
If you tickle your memory, you might remember the story of a woman who was fleeing gunshots from a passing car, only to be fired upon by Cleveland police. What’s happening to the officers who inexcusably fired those gunshots?
More trouble for the state lawmakers who are trying to stick it to libraries. How many more new borrowers signed up for the Cuyahoga County Library system alone last year?
Let’s end with some good old-fashioned municipal gossip. Cleveland Heights has been beset by bickering between its first strong mayor and a city council that wants to have the power. But when former Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan quite as city manager after a couple of months, it raised real questions about the mayor’s performance. What’s the latest ugly bit to come from all the controversy?
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Read the automated transcript below. Because it’s a computer-generated transcript, it contains many errors and misspellings.
Chris Quinn (00:01.637)
I know it’s out there. I know the day is coming when we won’t talk about the Brown Stadium, but that day is not today. It’s one of the subjects for Today in Ohio, the news podcast discussion from cleveland.com and the Plain Dealer. I’m Chris Quinn here with Leila Atassi, Lisa Garvin and Laura Johnston. And Laura, we’re starting with the Ohio State teachers retirement system, which could be in for a shake up.
My wife is about to start getting money from this system, so I have kind of a conflict on this one. I’ll leave it to you to explain.
Laura (00:37.009)
So what we’re talking about is the Ohio State Teachers Retirement System, STRS. And there’s been a lot of controversy in that system for the last couple of years over cost of living increases for teacher retirees and for who’s on the board. And there’s been kind of an old guard versus a new guard. So there is a state legislator who wants to examine exactly how this board is made up and if that’s the right way to do that. So Ohio’s retirement
study council will examine how all 50 states govern their teacher retirement systems. And this representative named Adam Bird says he doesn’t know exactly what he wants to do, but he’s concerned about the current composition and it appears to be imbalanced. So right now they have seven educators and four financial officers and the state superintendent of schools and there’s elected teachers and there were retirees on it.
And he wants to make sure that’s the right way to handle this because SCRS manages $95 billion for about 500,000 teachers and retirees. And they want to make sure that that money is being treated in the best way possible.
Chris Quinn (01:47.973)
Lisa, I think you are a recipient of a public pension in Texas, and it seems like what’s happening in Ohio is kind of confusing. Do you know how your pension is governed?
Lisa (02:00.045)
I don’t know the ins and outs of how it’s governed, but I know that, they keep us informed with newsletters and they haven’t sounded any alarm about the, you know, our pension system and our investments. So I’m not worried at this point.
Chris Quinn (02:15.023)
It just seems like it shouldn’t be rocket science, that there should be a system of best practices for how any kind of pension is overseen. And it’s remarkable how we have controversy in Ohio about it. And I wonder if it’s really about the distaste our legislature has for teachers.
Laura (02:33.745)
Well, it’s like, why is this a political thing? Right? This should be very, very, like you said, buy the book straight. There should be the best financial practices should be used to most to protect this money, make it grow, make sure that all the teachers and the retirees are taken care of. Like, you know that saying there’s not a Republican or a Democratic way to pick up trash. Like, I don’t understand why there’s a Democratic or a Republican way to manage money safely.
Chris Quinn (03:01.583)
Yeah, it’s just the teachers. I you don’t see them having these politics with any other, and it keeps coming back and coming back.
Lisa (03:09.787)
there was that controversy. Remember that they were going to go to a risky investment person who was going to manage their portfolio? Am I remembering that correctly? And there was a lot of controversy over that.
Laura (03:20.485)
There was, the idea is, was that risky or was it just being more progressive, right? We’re talking about two board members who the governor tried to remove that Wade Steen and Rudy Fichtenbaum. There was a lawsuit filed by Dave Yost to remove them. The retirees turned against the board when they didn’t get a cost of living increase between 2017 and 2022. So then they did a one-time supplemental benefit payment for recipients in 2024.
So yeah, there has been a ton of controversy here. And I guess it’s, you you want to see returns on your money. You don’t want it to shrink. You want to make sure that it can take care of you and your family for the rest of your life. And that’s why people are so concerned.
Chris Quinn (04:02.449)
You’re listening to Today in Ohio. Let’s talk about marijuana. Ohio Congressman Dave Joyce wants to finally end the confusion between state laws and federal laws on this increasingly popular product. Lisa, what is his proposal?
Lisa (04:17.425)
Yeah, the South Russell Republican who chairs the Cannabis Caucus in Washington, he wants to remove marijuana from the federal controlled substance list and he wants to allow states to set their own policies on recreational marijuana. He said the existing federal policy caused unnecessary harm and wasted tax money by diverting law enforcement resources from violent crime with needless arrests of small amounts of marijuana. So this is called the States 2.0 Act.
His sponsors are Bay Village Republican Max Miller and Dina Titus of Nevada. She’s a Democrat and the co-chair of the Cannabis Caucus. They just want a more logical approach to regulation. Max Miller says there are 24 states that have legalized marijuana recreationally, 39 have medical marijuana. he, you know, so he says, this is just a common sense thing. This bill also wants to ban distribution of marijuana to people under 21.
banned people under 18 from working in the marijuana industry and no distribution of marijuana products at rest areas, truck stops and other transportation places where they might be sold. yeah, hopefully this is a step in the right direction, whether his fellow Republicans will go along with him is another story.
Chris Quinn (05:31.697)
What’s idiotic about the current situation is the federal government is in effect turning millions of marijuana users in states where it’s legal basically into criminals. I every one of the states that have legalized it, the people who buy it legally in their state are still violating federal law. They could still be charged with federal crimes. And the federal government’s not pursuing that, but
The law shouldn’t be on the books. These folks all believe that they’re doing something completely legal. And with Donald Trump as president, he could snap his fingers and start arresting everybody who’s using marijuana. He’s that crazy. It wouldn’t be a surprise at all. And this really is the states telling the federal government, know, take a hike, man. We’re in charge of this. This is a state’s rights issue. We decided our residents want to use it. And yet you have this big
over everybody who uses it. We’re talking about people who use it for medical uses or recreational. And it’s crazy that the federal Congress cannot change this law. Just stop it. Let’s leave it be a states right issue. We’ve been talking about this for years.
Lisa (06:29.969)
Mm-hmm.
Lisa (06:43.727)
Yeah, it really, you know, Joyce does realize that there does need to be some sort of federal framework. He, along with Hakeem Jeffries, they’re sponsoring a separate bill that would create a special commission to regulate cannabis on a federal level, but this would be to develop a regulatory framework that would be similar to alcohol. And that’s how we got recreational marijuana passed in Ohio last year, or the year before. You know, we said, regulate it like alcohol.
Chris Quinn (07:11.729)
The states have made it clear that what they want to do, and the states should be supreme in this. They shouldn’t have this onerous presence trying to force it. It’s kind of like the Ohio legislature, right? Trying to force religion and things on all of its residents. It’s just the federal government still has this law that is trying to force people into a certain direction. It’s got to stop. And I can’t understand why it’s not. Who’s in the way of this? Are there people in Congress saying, no, no, no?
want these laws on the books and everybody who uses as a criminal? Why can’t this just get passed? You’re listening to 10 in Ohio. Heading in the opposite direction, Ohio lawmakers are working to rein in unregulated products that contain ingredients found in marijuana. It’s been a topic of conversation for a long while. Is resolution coming, Lisa?
Lisa (08:04.241)
Hopefully they’re trying to close this glaring loophole that allows intoxicating hemp products to be sold in unregulated places like gas stations and convenience stores. So a Republican from Miami County, Senator Steve Huffman is sponsoring Senate Bill 86. It passed unanimously yesterday in the Senate. It requires all intoxicating hemp products of 0.3 % THC and above be sold at licensed dispensaries only.
unregulated shops, he says, confuse Ohio consumers and law enforcement by calling themselves dispensaries when they’re not. So this bill will head to the House and we’ll see what happens there. Now this makes certain exceptions. It says that lotions, salves, some hemp infused beverages, you know, are exempt, but they would be sold by retailers with a liquor license. the
The owner of a hemp shop, Tribal Balance here in Cleveland, Robert Berg says this will devastate small businesses and limit consumer access. He says he’s in favor of most of it. He’s in favor of mandatory testing, age restrictions and inspections, but he doesn’t like limiting to pot dispensaries only. The US Hemp Roundtable rang in as well. They say it’s basically a giveaway to the marijuana industry. And Berg says most hemp retailers follow the proposed rules.
And the bill is just based on the worst case scenario.
Chris Quinn (09:27.673)
It’ll be interesting if they can finally get this done. This does seem like just an enormous loophole that has allowed some of this stuff to get into the hands of kids. And with all the regulation we just talked about regarding marijuana, you just kind of were surprised that something could slip through that’s this big.
Lisa (09:46.737)
Well, and I feel for Berg, the tribal balance owner, but he says most of us are complying, but there are those who aren’t complying that’s making it hard for everybody else. So there has to be some sort of regulation.
Chris Quinn (09:58.585)
Okay, you’re listening to Today in Ohio. We mentioned yesterday that the Cuyahoga County executive sent a letter to the state legislature asking for $350 million to renovate Brown Stadium. But the county doesn’t own that stadium. Cleveland does. But the mayor’s name was not on the letter. Layla, this is most unusual. What’s going on?
Leila (10:23.134)
Yeah, when we saw Ronane’s letter that was sort of the elephant in the room that Justin Bibb’s name was not affixed to it as well. But Bibb’s office says he knew about the letter ahead of time and that they quote, appreciate the county executive’s advocacy. But they haven’t answered the very direct question that our reporter Rich Exner asked, which was why wasn’t Bibb a co-signer? It’s not like joint letters are unusual. Ronane and Bibb have signed things together before.
Like recently the pitch to the White House about NASA Glenn, which ironically is not in the city of Cleveland, it’s in Brook Park. So the fact that Ronane went solo this time, especially on something as high profile as stadium funding really stands out. Ronane insists that there’s no rift, that he didn’t need to ask Bibb to sign because they’ve been on the same page all along about wanting to keep the Browns downtown.
Chris Quinn (11:18.167)
Yeah, throwing the flag, throwing the flag, that’s nonsense, but go ahead.
Leila (11:23.232)
No, yeah. So the optics are just really strange, especially since the state budget as it currently stands includes $600 million in borrowing for a new stadium in Brook Park and not a dime for renovation. So the solo letter from Ronane seems like a late push to shift the conversation back toward the lakefront. I mean, whether it works and whether BIB fully steps back into that fight, you know, it remains to be seen.
Chris Quinn (11:47.037)
Now it’s a Hail Mary. Let’s do what we do best on today in Ohio and cut through all the BS on this. The reason the mayor’s name is not on there is because the mayor doesn’t really care about that football stadium being on the lakefront. None of the people who vote for him go there and it costs the city a lot of money. And in the deal the Hasm’s have put together, the city gets as much as $100 million for the lakefront and it gets the use of the taxes that right now
Leila (11:48.702)
Yeah. Okay. Let’s cut it.
Chris Quinn (12:16.923)
are paying a lot of the bonds off for the existing stadium. This is a great cash deal for the city. If Bibb were to sign that letter, I’m sure that has him to call and say, all right, no deal, man. We thought we were gonna work out something with you, so don’t do it. On the other hand, go ahead.
Leila (12:33.1)
Yeah. Yeah. No, I was just going to say, feel like both both Ronane and Bibb are in are in these really politically tricky spots. mean, for Ronane, he’s boxed himself in. He’s been the loudest and most consistent voice against the Browns move to Brook Park. And that’s earned him this reputation as the last line of defense for keeping the team downtown. But now, as the state budget advances with hundreds of millions earmarked for the, you know, the suburban complex.
He probably sees the writing on the wall here. This deal is gaining momentum. And if he keeps resisting, Kyga County could risk losing the Browns altogether or being left out of the whole financial structure. But flip-flopping now would be politically troubling unless he can show he fought tooth and nail. So this letter, totally, a Hail Mary, alas, did show effort before he’s gonna pivot.
Chris Quinn (13:16.548)
I... well...
Chris Quinn (13:25.093)
Right. Democrat asking the Republicans for money isn’t going anywhere. I think what’s happening is he’s very quickly becoming the last person standing in the room saying, I want it downtown. The the the Haslams are going to build in Brook Park. It’s pretty much guaranteed they’re going to get the state funding. I suspect it’ll be bonding against the sports betting money, not not all those revenue sources we’ve been debating, but it’s going to happen. And if he continues to be the obstacle
Leila (13:35.0)
Yes.
Chris Quinn (13:54.961)
Bib won’t get that money that he’s counting on because the Hasmisms will have to do a few things to consume it. And Ronan will look like he’s standing in the way of progress. Remember, the Hasmisms are going to invest $1.2 billion of their own money in this project. That’s not something we see very often in Cuyahoga County. The other thing is he represents Cuyahoga County. So he does have a responsibility to Brooke Park here. I think this is his last minute throw.
I think he’s going to very soon come to the table. And that’s why Bib’s name isn’t on the letter. Bib is going to keep saying, I want it downtown because politically he’s in a spot where he has to say that. But come on, if you were Justin Bib, what would you want? The downtown stadium or all that cash? You could take that money and fix up every playground and park in the city with it.
Leila (14:37.624)
course.
Leila (14:45.1)
Well, yeah, and I think Bibb’s refraining from signing this letter is a very quietly strategic move. He’s already offered a financial plan to renovate the Lakefront Stadium. So on the surface, Bibb has done his part. But deep down, he likely knows that letting go of the stadium is a gift. He’s shedding this huge liability that would otherwise anchor the city’s budget for years. So still, though, he can’t be seen as rolling over for the Haslums.
Chris Quinn (15:03.503)
A huge win.
Chris Quinn (15:12.507)
Right. Right.
Leila (15:13.398)
If he pushes too hard now though, he risks blowing up that consolation prize that they could get, that promise to help fund Lakefront Development or whatever that money goes towards. So staying out of this letter may be less a snub and more just this quiet calculation not to mess with what’s left on the table. mean, so basically it’s a minefield. They’re trying to protect their legacies, both Ronane and Bim, but they’re also bracing for this deal that’s probably already done.
Chris Quinn (15:29.245)
Oh, right. 100 % is this.
Chris Quinn (15:42.607)
No, I don’t think it’s done, but I think it soon will be. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. One of the ways that Dee and Jimmy Haslam to propose to pay back local loans for the Brook Park Stadium is an increase in hotel taxes. And we saw some opposition to that idea arise on Wednesday, Laila. Who from?
Leila (16:00.942)
Yeah, that opposition came from a pretty key group, which is the Cleveland Hotel owners. On Wednesday, the Cleveland Hotel Association sent this letter to the Greater Cleveland Partnership, as well as city and county officials, making it pretty clear that they do not support the Haslam’s proposed hotel tax hike to help fund the stadium in Brook Park. The Browns obviously want to raise the countywide bed tax from six and a half percent to seven and a half percent. That’s one of the ways they plan to generate local revenue to help pay back.
public financing for their stadium. But hotel owners are saying not so fast. They argue that Cleveland already has one of the highest hotel taxes in the country. Nearly 18 % we factor in state and local taxes. And any increase could make the city less competitive, hurting their bottom line. So they’re also questioning the logic of asking downtown hotels to help fund the stadium that’s being built outside the city.
Their letter says moving the stadium to Brook Park could actually hurt downtown’s vibrancy, which is what drives hotel stays in the first place. And obviously, they’re not the only ones questioning the Browns’ here. Chris Ronane has said the team is overstating how much money the hotel tax would bring in. The Browns claim it would generate $450 million over 30 years. Ronane estimates it’s closer to $250 million.
and both the state budget director and the nonpartisan Legislative Service Commission have raised concerns about the Brown’s broader economic projections. So what we’re seeing is a growing chorus of doubt on the calculation, and now it includes folks in the city’s tourism industry.
Chris Quinn (17:39.689)
Let’s keep doing what we do on today on Ohio and show where this is going. When, not if, when the legislature passes the increased tax on sports betting, I think the spotlight raising questions about the possible corruption down there is going to scare them into doing it because it looks so bad they’re not. Then the governor has said instead of the state paying for a quarter of the stadium as the Haslam’s originally proposed
Leila (17:41.774)
No.
Chris Quinn (18:07.005)
that this money could be used to pay 40 % of the stadium. I think that will negate the need for the hotel tax because then the county, the local money that has to be borrowed to pay for the local portion is 10 % of the cost, which is far less. And so the hotel tax might go out the window. I also love this story though, for another reason. It shows exactly where we stand with our lack of leadership in this town.
The hotel owners are supposed to be aligned with Destination Cleveland and the Greater Cleveland Partnership, the Chamber of Commerce, right? But neither of those groups are speaking for him. Destination Cleveland’s leader came out a week or two ago and said, I’m not taking a position on this. That’s not our job. GCP has been absolutely silent on this. Paul Dolan runs that thing. He’s squashed any effort for a vote to either endorse the downtown plan or Brook Park.
So these poor hotel owners have to get up there on their own. The GCP should be taking a stand. One way the other, they should say, we think this is what’s best for the region, but we have cowards running these agencies these days. So the hotel owners did one thing. They stood up and said, wait, let’s think about this. It was a great story to see pop up because it shows how lame leadership is in this town. You’re listening to Today in Ohio.
Remember that sleazy dope who sold defective body armor to police all over Ohio and elsewhere? He’ll be sentenced soon for his crimes, but now he has another ramification. What is it, Laura?
Laura (19:43.887)
Well, Dave Yost, our attorney general, is suing him. And this is a lawsuit in Summit County where he is because he’s in Stowe. And it asks the judge to bar him. His name is Val Elive. And his company shot Stop Ballistics from working as a supplier in Ohio until he pays the millions of dollars in fines that he owes. Also, the filing asks that he be fined $25,000 for every violation of the Consumer Sales Practices Act.
I don’t know that you could ever get out from under that because he was doing business with all sorts of police departments. And what he was doing was selling them. What he promised was this grade A body armor that would protect police officers from getting shot. know, what he was actually doing is getting substandard equipment from China, slapping a certification on it and selling it. And he only got found out because
folks in Oregon found the product coming through in the mail. And he did this for six years, selling them as premium products to departments like Akron, Alliance, Columbus, Rocky River, Shelby, Strongsville, the Stark County Sheriff’s Department. And then he got caught in 2023. this is, I mean, deep. This was happening to a lot of departments that spent a lot of money.
Chris Quinn (21:04.848)
Well, the thing is too, when you sell defective body armor, you can kill people. mean, this is one of the worst things you can do. One, you’re an idiot for defrauding police departments because it’s not going to go well for you when you get caught. And two, you are endangering the lives of law enforcement officers with an inferior stuff. So this guy is as bad as it gets. I hope he gets the full 10 years that they’re talking about. Dave Yost going after him for the money, though, seems to me to be a stunt.
Laura (21:09.21)
Yeah.
Chris Quinn (21:32.103)
The guy has no money. They’re never going to get the money. He’s going to be locked up. He’s not going to able to generate money. But Dave Yost is running for governor and he wants all the cops to like him. And so he’s adding, it’s an easy one, right? I’m representing the cops here. I’m trying to protect the lives of police officers. And he wants another headline, which he got.
Laura (21:51.503)
Yeah. But I mean, this guy should never be allowed to sell anything ever again.
Chris Quinn (21:53.573)
haha
Chris Quinn (21:58.065)
You know, we were talking in the newsroom yesterday and Lucas found Lucas de Prilla who wrote the story found another patent the guy had for a rolling meat tenderizer. And so it gave lots of levity. So he’s built these both body armor and a meat tenderizer. listening to Today in Ohio. The problem that arises elsewhere in Ohio, but hardly ever in Northeast Ohio is school crowding. Let’s face it, the Northeast Ohio population is waning all the time.
Laura (22:07.459)
my God.
Chris Quinn (22:28.039)
Do we have a Northeast Ohio high school that is bursting at the seams? Lisa, which one? Or actually, this is supposed to be for Layla. Ooh, I screwed up. Anyway, Lisa, if you’re ready for it, which one and how are they coping?
Lisa (22:40.913)
I am ready for it. So we’re talking about North Ridgeville High School, which is in Lorain County. North Ridgeville is actually the fastest growing city in Northern Ohio. Their population jumped from 22,000 in 1990 to 37,000 as of a couple of years ago. And it’s being driven by young families with kids who of course have to go to school. Now North Ridgeville High was redesigned back in 1994 to hold 900 students. It now holds 14,000.
students. That’s 500 more than it was built for. So they will get a new school building. Construction will start this year on a 340,000 square foot new high school, but that’s about three academic years away. So in the meantime, North Ridgeville High is trying a whole bunch of ways to, you know, cram in these students.
And they actually tried three times since 2019 to pass a bond issue and they finally approved one in 2023 with $143 million, but it just barely passed. So what they’ve been doing to cope, they did add eight temporary trailers back in 2023. They house about 168 students per class period, but students say they’re like low ceiling, the desks are really tightly packed and they do have to walk outside, not very far, but they do have to walk outside from these trailers to the main building.
They also lower the number of credits required for graduation from 22 to 20. They’re decreasing required elective courses to try and ease that overcrowding. And they say they’ll go back to 22 credit hours when the new high school does open.
Chris Quinn (24:16.253)
Do we know when that school was built? Is it an old school? Is it decades old?
Lisa (24:20.559)
I didn’t find that in the article. was actually looking for that because I like to know these things, but we do. I’m guessing it was probably built after the war, maybe in the 40s and 50s, but we do know it was redesigned in 94.
Chris Quinn (24:32.145)
Well, do you know?
Leila (24:32.32)
Yeah, actually, that’s when the school was built. Yeah, I graduated from Ridgeville High School, actually. And so that school was, well, actually, all right, wait, there is a part of the school that is older. So I’m not exactly sure what part that was. When I came into high school, they had a whole second addition onto the school that was built in the 90s. So there was like the new section and the older section, and they’re still both coexisting. What I find stunning about this is that they have to get on a daily basis.
Lisa (24:34.98)
in 94?
Chris Quinn (24:35.132)
It was.
Leila (25:02.05)
about 500 kids out of the building so they can meet the fire code. I was just like, whoa.
Lisa (25:05.147)
Yes, yes. so what, yeah, so they’re now allowing juniors to leave campus. They have a privilege system where you can leave campus during lunch or study hall or a free period. And like you said, that removes almost 500 people from campus at any given time.
Chris Quinn (25:20.773)
My question on this is they’re about to build and spend a lot of money on a new high school. what do in the long term, will they need it? When I was a kid growing up in my little town in New Jersey, we had the similar situation. The local public high school had really twice as many kids as it could hold. And so they were building a new high school. And over the intervening years, I think it was three, just like this. They had half the kids go to school from six in the morning to noon. And then the rest of the kids went from.
1230 to five or something like that. And so you basically had both schools in the same school with, you know, people going in the morning in the dark and other class going home in the dark. And eventually the other school opened. But 15 years later, 20 years later, they no longer needed both schools. So they closed one down. And you just wonder, is there a smarter way to cope with this in the long term?
to whether you’re actually going to need it before you spend all that money because they could end up without the need for it. But the lay low population’s grown out there by crazy, right?
Leila (26:27.196)
yeah. mean, they say, I think that the student body is growing at twice the pace of the actual population, which, you know, that signifies that their family is moving in into the, you know. And so I think that actually when Hannah Drown and I were talking, Hannah being the reporter who worked on this, when we discussed the story, it sounded to me like they might’ve been under planning. I mean, I think their new high school is going to accommodate a couple hundred extra students.
Lisa (26:27.483)
Yeah.
Lisa (26:33.029)
Yes.
Leila (26:53.908)
And they’re hoping or they’re saying that their projections are that the pace of growth is going to slow down and that they will eventually just sort of like settle in at that mark. But if it continues at the pace they’re going, they will outgrow that new facility in less than a decade. it’s pretty interesting. Hannah is going to actually follow up with more reporting about the growth of North Ridgeville and how, whether city services have been expanded to accommodate this.
burgeoning population. I think there are some people who feel,
Chris Quinn (27:25.277)
I don’t know, Lisa, you’ve been around, you’ve been around a long time, you’ve been around this area, so you’ve probably seen quite a few schools close and you just wonder how long do we plan for in the end because every school you close has wasted public money.
Lisa (27:36.945)
Well, yeah. And especially in Shaker Heights where I went to school. I mean, they had to close elementary schools. They consolidated the two junior high schools. So yeah, I don’t know what’s in the water in North Ridgeville that’s attracting all these young families.
Leila (27:55.842)
low Lorraine County taxes and tons of farmland that’s turning into subdivisions.
Chris Quinn (27:57.443)
Okay.
Lisa (27:57.617)
Chris Quinn (28:02.171)
We are running out of time. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. If you tickle your memory, you might remember the story of a woman who was fleeing gunshots from a passing car only to be fired upon by Cleveland police. What’s happening, Laura, to those officers who inexcusably fired on this poor woman?
Laura (28:20.207)
Yeah, this is so sad. So the officers, Dylan O’Donnell and Amanda Rock, they face suspension or termination for the shooting of Antonia Carter. She’s 26. She died and her family watched it happen. They were actually talking to police officers because she had just been shot. And so they’re scheduled to go before Wayne Drummond, the city’s director of public safety on hearing on May 9th. The city claims the use of force was excessive, which makes sense. But it is really difficult to discipline police officers because if it
If it happens and then it can go to arbitration, feel like a lot of times any kind of discipline is taken away because it’s that’s just the way that the union works.
Chris Quinn (29:00.413)
But you shouldn’t be shooting at a fleeing car. You shouldn’t be shooting at a victim. this was reckless beyond belief. They shouldn’t have been doing what they did. I would imagine even in the lame system of arbitration, somebody would have to say this was way out of control.
Laura (29:18.181)
Well, they weren’t charged, right? Like the prosecutor didn’t charge the cops and the family as attorneys are saying, I don’t understand how you even make the decision. You can’t see a car coming down the street and just start shooting at it. It’s that very, it’s much that mentality of you’re in a war zone and you’re just shooting at anything that’s moving.
Chris Quinn (29:29.253)
Yeah, I know. It’s really bad.
Chris Quinn (29:38.173)
You’re listening to Today in Ohio. do one more. More trouble for state lawmakers who are trying to stick it to libraries. How many new borrowers signed up for the Cuyahoga County Library System last year alone, Laura?
Laura (29:51.121)
These are just so many numbers. So more than 41,000 new borrowers signed up for library cards. That’s a 16 % increase. That’s huge. We’re talking about 11.5 million items borrowed. That was up 5 % from 2023. And total customer visits rose 7 % up to nearly 4 million. And this is just for the Cuyahoga County Library System. This does not include all the cleave net libraries like Cleveland Public Library and all those independent libraries like
Rocky River and Westlake. So this is 27 branches serving 47 communities. They hosted more than 13,000 programs last year, more than 305,000 attendees. And that was a 6 % increase from 2023. I can give you all these numbers about all the programs they’re doing, the student success, the kindergarten club, the passports, the helping with support programs, the kids cafe with serving kids meals.
But what remains is that these are such important centers of our community and the state wants to say, wait, you don’t really deserve a portion of our state’s income tax, or sorry, state tax overall. We don’t want to give you this guaranteed funding.
Chris Quinn (31:07.005)
I just think when you see those numbers, these are all supporters of libraries. And when the libraries notify all those supporters that the state Republicans in their political zeal and their culture wars are trying to take money away from libraries, these people will be the ones they hear from. This is a dangerous overreach by the legislature. They’re attacking something that people love. It’s like attacking parks. You just don’t do it.
Laura (31:34.797)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Chris Quinn (31:36.765)
It’s just, hope these numbers finally intimidate these clowns because they are reaching way too far in their effort to jam their belief system down everybody’s throats.
Laura (31:49.529)
Absolutely. I actually went to the Middleburg Heights branch last night for an author reading with Renee Rosen, who’s actually from Akron. I had no idea. And she wrote this great book called Let’s Call Her Barbie and about like the founding of Mattel and Barbie and everything. And it was packed and everybody was so excited. And these are the kind of things they do. They have author visits, have workforce development, they have all of these things that make it such a central part of our community and people rely on them so much. And that was a free event.
Right? Like they won’t be able to host national authors for free if you’re taking all of their money away.
Chris Quinn (32:26.781)
Okay, you’re listening to Today in Ohio. That’s it for Thursday. Thanks, Lisa. Thanks, Leila. Thanks, Laura. Thank you for being here. We’ll return Friday to wrap up a week of news.